Shoes



Nov. 19, 1957 M. GUsTlN l2,813,355 SHOES Filed Dec. 20, 1954` United Sttes Patent SHOES Max Gustin, New York, N. Y. Application December 20, 1954, Serial No. 47 6,354 1 claim. (ci. 3.6-2.5)

the countryside and resorts. They are preferred because i they feel secure and comfortable. They afford for the wearers heel and arch a broad base which is firm, that is to say, unyielding, and thereby provide a sense of stability entirely unlike that furnished by conventional high heeled shoes in which the shank customarily constitutes leather reinforced by a steel stiifening strip. These t strips are narrowand flexible and therefore are unable to supply the rm, stable support of a wedge heel type shoe.

Heretotore the use of wedge heel type shoes has been limited dueto their weight and their clumsy, bulky appearance so that they are only rarely worn on formal occasions, or in sports or the oce.

Itis an object of my invention to provide a high heeled shoe which will afford the user the comfort, security and stability of a wedge heel type shoe but which nevertheless is graceful, slimv and dainty and can be styled in any desired manner.

It is another object of my invention to provide a high heeled shoe of the character described having all of the attributes but none of the disadvantages of a wedge heel type shoe.

It is another object of my invention to provide a high heeled shoe of the character described which to outward appearances is conventional but wlhich provides a wedge heel type support for a wearers foot.

It is another object of my invention to providea high heeled shoe of the character rdescribed which is of substantially conventional construction except for the incorporation of a new element which supplies a broad, rigid, firm and unyielding support for the arch and heel of a wearers foot.

It is another object of my invention to provide a high heeled shoe of the character described which may be made at a cost for components and labor considerably less than that of a present-day conventional shoe.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accondingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the shoe hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal central vertical sectional view through said shoe;

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are sectional views taken substantially, of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is an exploded view of the heel and stiffener.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes a shoe embodying my invention. Said shoe includes a high heel 12, the heel herein illustrated being two inches high and having a downwardly tapering high breast face 14 and a small tread surface 16. The back 18 of the heel slants forwardly and downwardly from its top edge so thatthe heel in general is of conventional appearance. In addition the top surfaceof the heel is inclined forwardly from its back edge as is usual. Although I have shown a specific high heel, it is to be understood that high heels of any contour can be utilized, as for example, French heels, Cuban heels, Louis" heels and spike heels.

Said heel is manufactured from any suitable strong, rigid and unyielding substance, the preferred material being a hand wood, and is shaped in a manner well known to the art on a standard heel-turning machine. Desirably, the grain of the wood is arranged to run in a substantially vertical direction. The heel is suitably covered, for instance, with a layer 20 of leather, fabric or plastic eX- tending around the side and back of the wooden core and inturned to overlie the top surface thereof. In addiu'onA a layer 22 of tan sole leather extends over the breast face. A conventional lift 24 is secured, as by tacks 26, to the tread surface of the heel. t,

The outsole 2S likewise is conventional, including a ball portion 30 of standard wear-resisting material as, for instance, leather, and a skived shank portion 32 which is integral with the ball portion 30 and slopes upwardly from the ball line 33 to the breast face 14 of the heel. The shank portion of the outsole and the breast face of the heel conjointly define an arch whose high point is adjacent the front edge of the heel and which, pursuant to my invention, is preferably not less than two inches high, and may be as much as four inches.

In accordance with my invention, I superpose a wooden stiifener 34 on the heel and the shank of the outsole.

The stiffener is made sufficiently thick, considering the material employed, for `it to have the unyieldability, stiffness and rigidity of an ordinary wedge heel, but its thickness is kept slight so that it will be as inconspicuous as possible, and, indeed, the shoe will not at all resemble a wedge heel type shoe but will be of comparatively conventional appearance and have none of the disfguring bulk characteristic of a wedge heel. I have found, for example, that a stitfener of hard wood (cherry) can be made as thin as about five-sixteenths of an inch without imparting any noticeably ilexibility or yieldability. However, it will be understood that, if desired, the stiffener may be made somewhat, but not too much, thicker, the maximum thickness of the stiffener in accordance with t my invention being live-eighths of an inch. A thickness of about one-half of an inch is shown in the drawings. This greatest thickness ldoes not noticeably detract from the dainty, airy, light and graceful appearance-of the shoe.

The width of the stiiener from front to back varies in the same manner as a conventional heel, a typical width at about the center ofthe shank being in the order of one and one-half inches so that it will be appreciated that the stiffener is comparatively wide and, therefore, will afford a good rm support across the full width of the wearers foot. The stiener runs from the back of the heel forwardly to the ball line so that it supports the wearers foot from the ball through the arch and heel in the manner of a usual wedge shoe. The stiifener preferably is of substantially uniform thickness through the heel and rear half of the shank although, if desired, this portion of the stilfener may taper forwardly. The front .half of the Patented Nov. 1K9, 1957i Yemployed being such that qeven at this thin portion the stiffenerhas no noticeable flexibility and remains stiff, rigid and unyielding. The lower surface of the stiffener Slopes. downwardly and forwardly, eonfortnins tothe top of 'the'heel and undersurface of the shanlcoi` the shoe,

."lheshanls of the, Stiftener is, not inihedded .in the insole,

'Ihesrain of the stiiienertpreferably nine substantially parallel to theI lensth ot the shank portionas indicated by the arrovv'o.,

By forming the stiiener es e. piece seperate from the heel. it eanfhe made. .Strong enoughto take the stresses develo ed in the Shank, the strength heins7 due either to the Seleetlon of the wood-andsrein or tothe other material pielted for the Stitienet. Moreover, the heel een. he mede Stronger .Since it is. not necessary as it is in anne-piece Wedge `compromise orientingthe srainso as to divide the strenath'between theheel and. shanle YIt, also should he pointed. out-that the increased Shank. `strength vvhiehy I have made possible is utilized to reduce the thickness of the stifiener` and thereby make a shoe embodying my i11- ventionindistinguishable from a conventional shoe.

The heel 'of the stiliener oveilies the inclined upper Surfaee of the heel 1,2 and is firmly rand permanently Seeure'd'thereto in any suitable fashion; for exemple, the stitfener and heel may be vertically drilled in registration to providetbres 38, 4.0 which receive a hard wood dowel 4Z that is glued in placel 'In addition, a loyer 44 of glue ortheilike can be interposed between the juXIaposed surfaces of the stifener and heel. Furthermore, the heel and stiffener may be tightly pressed together, as in a clamp, while'the adhesive is setting, so that the forward edge of the heel bites into thev undersurface of the stiffener and leaves an indentation therein which aids in preventing relative rotation of theheel and stiiener. Optionally, nails or'screws also een be employed to aid in Securing these two parts to one another.

For ornamental purposes, the sides of the stiffener are covered' with a suitable sheet material 46 such as leather, fabric or plastic, or are painted or studded with decorative elements'in a` layer of adhesive lacquer or paint.

It vmay be mentioned that a common ornamental material can be applied to the SideS of both the stilener andheel. For instance, a single piece of leather, plastic or fabric can be cemented to theexposed sides of these two elements.

AThe balance of the shoe is nished with conventional elements and in a conventional fashion.

For example, as shown herein, the shoe includes an upper 43 of any desired styling and construction. The marginaledges of the upper are suitably secured to the shoe; for instance, said edges are inturned to overlie the peripheral marginal portions of the ball of the outsole and are held to the same as by adhesive. The shoe is coveredifrom kheel to toe with an insole 50 that is held in place as by a layerof adhesive 52, A conventional pipin g strip 54 covers the exposed edge of the insole. A thinLfelted pad 56 is inserted under the ball of the insole. It will be noted that the inturned edges of the upper are caught between the ball of the insole `and ball of the outsole at the'forward portion of the shoe and between the shank of the insole and the shank of the stiifener at the'middle of the shoe, being `adhesively secured to both. A conventional h eel strap 58 has its marginal edge inturned between and adhesively secured to the insole and stifener atthe kshank and `heel of the shoe.' Theirisole is covered with a stocking pad 6 0,

My novel constructionwcvan even be employed in a" formal shoe, that is to say, asshoe with a high heel having a tiny lift and a particularly thin ball outside that lends great pliability to the sole part of the shoe. When used in a shoe of this type, the stiffener despite the great Ilexibility of the ball of the Qutsoleprovides Ia solid foundation for the foot.

It will be seen that the eonstruction of my shoe enables a stiff, rigid and unyielding ,n1errrber, ,the 'stilenen separate from the heel,'to 'forniva part of the shoe extendinsfrorn above the heel. toY thefbtlll` lineofathefoutsole thereby affording the desired stable and secure support for la wearers-fo'ot without makingthe shoe clumsy and bulky as in the case of a conventional wedge.

It will 'be appreciated that the appearance of the shoe remains dainty, graceful, light and .airy and, therefore,

attractive to the purchasing-publie., iloweyefmliyfiests Carried ont with Shoes einbodyins-finy pinwentionA have voo.

proved that iivoirieuconsider; :thennto `:feel the same as =e hoe,

slootnik upper; surface, the breast of the, wooden heel being at `leastytwo,insliesfhigh, an outsolethriving a ball portion, wooden stitienerconetitntina a zrisid, thin,l broad .member `which perfi- QYerlies. ,the outsole, the

.portion of said stiffener whih overlies the outsole being ,extending front portion at the ball line of' the outsole,

References Cited in thele of this'patent :UNI-TED `strains PATENTS 1,604,462 McHugh oet. ,26, 1 926 1,895,660 3,1, 193.3 1,981,677 20, 1193.4 2,083,659 .Nutt e, n. lune 15,1937 2,095,953 Bazzsi i9, 1937 2,099,394 Gordon e 16, 1937 2,114,399 'Nutt Apr- 1.9, 1938 2,230,504 Rudner Feb.. .4', 1941 2,558,317 Sehwortz lune 2 6, .195,1

I heersende@ a me when 

